


Where Have Our Years Gone

by Shapeshifter99



Series: Daemons of Sleepy Hollow [2]
Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, Sleepy Hollow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-25
Updated: 2015-02-25
Packaged: 2018-03-15 06:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3436100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shapeshifter99/pseuds/Shapeshifter99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes Abbie almost found it funny how different she and her sister ended up being. All of her earliest memories were of her little sister’s daemon mimicking Visur, even down to the individual colors of feathers and fur, as if they could be the same person if they tried hard enough.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Have Our Years Gone

**Author's Note:**

> Another daemon AU ficlet... I feel as if I've gotten myself into something.  
> Jenny's daemon, Efferan, is an American osprey, a type of fish-hunting raptor  
> Lori's daemon, Martus, is a European badger  
> Corbin's daemon, Sien, is a black bear

Sometimes Abbie almost found it funny how different she and her sister ended up being. All of her earliest memories were of her little sister’s daemon mimicking Visur, even down to the individual colors of feathers and fur, as if they could be the same person if they tried hard enough. It used to make their mother laugh, but as she and Martus descended into madness, it sometimes drove them even crazier.

“Devils!” Martus would roar, lumbering towards Visur and Efferan with rage in his dilated eyes. “Get out of them!” It often scared Eff so badly that he would change into a mouse and crawl into Jenny’s pocket, quivering. After a few times, Vi began to shift resolutely, never once keeping the same shape as Efferan at the same time.

Then Mom left, dragged into Tarrytown kicking and screaming while Martus’ black and white fur bristled with panic and rage.

“Don’t take them away!” she shrieked as unknown social workers gently began to lead a stricken Abbie and Jenny away as their daemons nudged Vi and Eff along. Then they met the monster in the woods, and somehow things got even worse. Abbie lied (she lied) and Jenny was taken away, Efferan’s wide, betrayed eyes staring as she was dragged from the interrogation room.

Psychologists would later explain to Abbie that the reason it was taking Visur so long to settle was because of the instability of their current lives. At the time, Abigail thought it was complete bull, and her daemon seconded the motion.

“I don’t settle because I don’t want to,” he’d huff, pacing, flitting, slithering around the room in a myriad of shapes that even Abbie could hardly discern. She’d simply watch, knowing it was a lie and also that he knew it too… But it wasn’t as if they wanted to discuss it. The years dragged on, until Abbie was seventeen and Visur still unsettled. It got them weird stares, but they were often too high to care.

Then they met Corbin and Sien.

After Paul and his little tramp of a daemon skedaddled out of the pharmacy they’d pretty much been raiding, Abbie had been hopelessly convinced that this was it for her and Visur. They’d be caught, locked up like Jenny and dear old Mama.

But when the sirens stopped and an old man with maybe a little too much chub around the middle and a black bear that was surprisingly small got out of the car, Abbie felt her fear deflate. In response to it, Visur bristled and shifted into a tiger form, standing aggressively in front of her in an attempt to shield her.

The old man stared at him, unimpressed, and the bear daemon huffed out an amused breath. And before either of them knew it, they were in a diner, watching this strange guy eating his pie and spouting some bullshit about how Abbie had five minutes to decide what to do with her life, and whether he would take her to jail.

For the first two minutes, Abbie and Vi simply stared, uncomprehending. Then it sank in. This random man was offering to give them a second chance, a new start at life. Now, Abbie would admit that she thought of Jenny when she realized it, but at the time it felt only as if she were saving her own skin.

The third and fourth minutes were spent deliberating on whether this man and his bear daemon were after something, money or power or whatever the corrupt officials wanted these days. But to Abigail’s surprise, her daemon was the one who changed her mind.

Sitting there, staring at Detective Corbin (he’d introduced himself rather bluntly before ordering his pie), Visur instantly felt at ease and calm. They could trust him and his daemon.

So in the last minute, Abbie stood up straighter, stopping inspecting her nails and looked this strange man straight in the eyes.

“We want to change.”

And that decided that. It was only a few hours afterwards that Abbie noticed Visur hadn’t changed shape in a while. When she looked at him questioningly, he just shrugged. And just as swiftly as they’d changed the course of their destiny, her daemon had settled into the form of a hulking Bengal tiger.

They couldn’t have known that Efferan had also settled, and from a chillingly similar encounter with Corbin and Sien as well at the time. It was only years later that they found out, the both of them pointing guns at each other, Visur crouched and ready to spring while a gorgeous brown and white osprey spread its wings menacingly on Jenny’s shoulder.

There was a moment of disorientation as Visur faltered and paused. “Eff?” he asked, his voice deep and unsure for a moment.

Out of the corner of her eye, Abbie thought she saw Ichabod twitch a little. Visur was normally the silent type, and on top of that in the 1700s the lieutenant knew that having daemons speak aloud in front of strangers was uncommon.

The osprey hesitated as well, dark eyes widening as his beak snapped shut. “Vi?” he said cautiously.

It was all the identification Abbie and Jenny needed. For the first time in years, both sisters could see each other clearly, standing on opposite sides of the same chasm. But as Abbie stared and Jenny did so back, she felt a twinge of doubt. Years and years that had flown past, and yet Visur and Efferan could recognize each other with a single look. That had to mean something. But Eff… Abbie had never seen him in this kind of form before. He’d always preferred land shapes when they were young, to keep his feet on the ground. She’d known he’d settled, keeping an eye on Jenny’s files and everything... But now he was barely recognizable to her, even if her own daemon didn’t agree.

Visur tore himself away from the conflict raging in his human’s mind, focusing further on the startled gaze of Efferan. There was the same confusion in his eyes that there was in Abbie’s mind, despite Jenny’s impassiveness, and it had to mean _something_ at least.

For the first time in ages, the tiger felt eagerness spring in his chest, covering up well-worn tracks with green grass.

Maybe there was still hope of salvaging what they had left from their childhood. Maybe they could fix things again.

 

 


End file.
